Cardinal Vinko Puljic

Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop of Vrhbosna. Born in Pirjecani, diocese of Banja Luka on September 8th 1945, he was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II during the Concistory on November 26th 1994. Cardinal Puljic lived the difficult year of war close to his people; and for the faith of all the Christians of Bosnia he was a sure point of reference.

"Life to me, of course, is Christ " (Phil 1,21). Making my own these words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, I wish to express my firm adhesion to the Creed of the Catholic Church, which professes faith in Jesus Christ true God and true man... born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This Liturgical Year, which is part of the three years of preparation for the Great Jubilee, is truly a moment of grace, an opportune time to deepen our faith in God and faith in the Church, the mystical Body of Christ of which we are members through Baptism and to strengthen our awareness of the possibility for every person, for the whole of humanity, to take an active part in the wondrous event of God's salvation. In fact two thousand years ago with his Incarnation Jesus Christ entered the history of humanity and the history of every individual person. This is why I wish here to speak of some vivid memories of my experience of Jesus Christ during my childhood in a Catholic family; an experience of faith lived daily and sustained by the sacraments and by prayer. It was in this environment that I came to know Jesus Christ and his Mother Mary. And my devotion to Jesus Christ grew together with devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God. When I was a child, it all seemed very clear, I had no queries. Later however, while I was preparing for the priesthood, urged on by youthful enthusiasm to become a priest as soon as possible, I began to think more deeply about the person and the life of Jesus. At first I failed to understand the need to study so many years in order to become a priest and also wondered why Jesus himself waited thirty years before beginning to preach about the Kingdom of God. Through prayer and in meditation on the Word of God, I discovered that all growing things need time and silence. In fact all great things grow and mature in silence, without noise.

The atheist Communist regime, which until a few years ago ruled my country, was the cause of no few difficulties on my path towards the priesthood. In that environment I discovered the face of the suffering Christ, a Figure in whom I found a source of consolation and inner peace. Precisely in the Figure of the suffering Christ I realised that God is near to all those who are burdened with suffering or have to struggle through every day life.

I would underline that I have never been very concerned about suffering. More important for me, was to keep the light, to persevere and remain faithful amidst the trials and adversities of life. The suffering Christ gave me courage to go on, above all Christ walking the Way of the Cross through the streets of Jerusalem and through the streets of the whole world. And each time, near Christ, I found his Mother: She is always beside suffering humanity reflected in the face of her Son who pours out rays of light and hope over the whole world... I experienced this many times and particularly in the last few years, during the tragic war which devastated Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina.

While contemplating the suffering Christ, I have always been impressed by the scene in which Christ consoles the women of Jerusalem. While he himself undergoes immense suffering, he has the strength to console others, even those suffering less than he. To think of others when we ourselves suffer, while we struggle, is truly something great and something deeply human: we must never close ourselves in our pain, but rather have also be open to the plight of others.

The suffering of Jesus' earthly life reached its climax on Golgotha. Precisely in that place where he was raised up on the cross to "unite" for ever heaven and earth and reconcile definitively mankind with God, Jesus reveals all his love for us: there he prays for his enemies and forgives the good thief, even promising that he will be with Him in Paradise, that same day. No one can remain indifferent to such generosity, such undeserved love which, in the darkness of evil, kindles the light of faith to show that forgiveness is the foundation of the new world so yearned for by our humanity wounded by sin: a world which is born deep in the human heart.

The suffering Christ, true Samaritan and Simon the Cyrene for humanity, moves me in particular when from the Cross he gives His Mother to John, the beloved disciple, and through him to the whole human race. This is a mystery which wells up from the unfathomable depths of the Divine Heart and we cannot fail to rejoice knowing that we have a heavenly Mother by whom each one of us is dearly loved.

During my life I have met many people who say they suffer because they feel unloved. Each time I remind them of the love which God revealed in his Son Jesus Christ, who became our brother and Redeemer, the brother and Redeemer of mankind.

Through Him, in fact, God's grace entered the history of humanity scarred by sin. It is in Jesus Christ that every man and woman can feel loved by God, who created them in his own image and likeness.

For my part I am immensely grateful to God to know that every human being is loved by Him and to have experienced so many times, in the light of Christ's Gospel, the meaning of divine charity. And once more I say "Life to me is Christ" He is truly the Way, the Truth and the Life (Cf Jn 14,6)

And I wish to share the joy of my faith with all my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, with the whole human race redeemed by Christ, so that the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, for which we are preparing, will be a Jubilee of faith, hope and charity.